Garner 'had therapy after divorce'

Garner, who is now married to Ben Affleck, explained that she decided to use her split from actor Scott Foley as a learning experience.

"I had a lot of growing up to do," she told Parade. "I'm still conflict-averse. I don't like to argue. But back then I couldn't have a fight. I couldn't work things out because I wasn't able to say what I needed to say. I didn't have a voice. I didn't dare to express myself.

"It was a huge heartbreak for me to have something fail like that. I knew that this was either an opportunity for growth or I would sink."

Garner continued: "It's easy when you're hurt and angry to just say, 'Oh, it's them'. But I had to come into my own. I thought, 'Why did this relationship not work? What part of the failure is my responsibility?' So I went to work on it. I started therapy."

Garner explained that she learned to make her "personal confidence" as strong as her "professional confidence".

"I understood very well how to be nice and how to take care of people," she said. "I didn't know how to ask for anything that I needed. It was important to balance it out."